Chapter 125

A Final Happy Birthday?

Note from J.M. Jackson: I'm sorry to say that there could be a delay coming up in the next few weeks because of personal reasons. I'll try to keep uploading, but I've got a lot to deal with at the moment, so please forgive me if I'm somewhat late with the next update.

Every day that passed, Lily spent more time training with Mad Eye, with Remus and Sirius, and even with Scrimgeour when he was available. She was learning to fight with the Sword of Gryffindor, and even practicing her Metamorphmagus abilities. She could change her appearance at will finally, even covering up her scar, though she couldn't hold it for longer than an hour.

Still, it would be enough time, should she need to hide who she was, whilst hunting for Horcruxes. She had been planning everything with Ginny, Ron, Lavender, Hermione, Fleur, Draco, and Pansy. Each of them had a bag with an undetectable extension charm on them, provided to them by Mad Eye, Scrimgeour, and Crouch, all of them having worked together to ensure they were the best they could have.

Lily did, however, ensure she spent as much time with Molly, Sirius, Remus, Angeline, Minerva, and Ginny as possible, wanting to cherish every second she had. It was a weird feeling, knowing that soon, she was going to be away from everyone, on a dark quest. How had Dumbledore felt when he knew he was dying, or when he had so much to do? How had he managed to do any of it?

She had, before leaving Hogwarts, tried to speak to the portrait of Dumbledore, which now hung in her Aunt Minnie's office, but it was always vague, and said that it didn't know the answers that Lily was seeking, because when the portrait was prepared, they hadn't had their conversations, and so the portrait had no idea about them.

Lily doubted it, but at the same time, she didn't understand why Dumbledore wouldn't tell her everything she needed to know. Was that a part of her quest? Finding the answers that would help her? Finding the solutions to every puzzle now ahead of her?

Ron had been studying the Deluminator that Dumbledore had left him, not understand why he needed it, but he was making sure to keep light stored in it, as a precaution. Ginny and Fawkes were rarely apart; it was clear there was a new bond between them, and one that Lily could feel. She was thankful; it meant Ginny had more support and strength and would have support if something happened to Lily.

Hermione had spent days reading the book she had been left by Dumbledore, but so far, there was nothing to explain why she had been left it. Had it simply been just a book for Hermione to read?

Nothing Dumbledore had done in his last year made much sense, outside of wanting Lily and Ginny to understand more about Voldemort. The two of them spent time talking about how best to get under his skin, so they could make him angry enough to make a mistake.

But would they be able to find a way to do that?

Lily woke up on the morning of her birthday, smiling happily as she did. She got herself washed, dressed, and ready for breakfast, and as she got downstairs to the dining hall, she jumped when everyone there yelled out 'surprise' holding gifts for her.

Even Scrimgeour had managed to make an appearance; Lily had seen a lot of him recently, and she had grown to appreciate his gruff, but caring, manner. He genuinely wanted to keep everyone safe, but it was clear that he was fond of Lily. Lily could see Scrimgeour and Molly talking a lot as well, which was good, since Molly needed all the support she could get.

"Happy Birthday, Lily-kins," Fred and George teased with their nickname, ruffling her hair. "How does it feel to officially be an adult?"

"Was there a difference before?" Lily asked, prompting a round of laughter. The dining hall was as large as it was before, though the outside appeared a lot smaller. Sirius had taken to calling it 'Tardis Hall' after another muggle show called Doctor Who.

"Happy Birthday, Lily," Draco said, handing her a gift. "Hope this is okay," he added. Lily smiled as she opened the gift and found tears welling up as she saw a heart locket, which opened to reveal a picture of herself and Ginny.

"It's beautiful, Draco, thank you," Lily said, kissing his cheek.

"You're welcome, Lily," Draco smiled at her. Lily began to open the rest of her presents. She noticed they mostly followed a theme; defensive items from Fred and George's latest line, duelling books from Hermione, a new potions kit from Mad Eye, a portable wardrobe full of muggle and witch clothing from Molly, Sirius, and Remus, potions books from Scrimgeour, as well as several powerful spell books, none of which Lily had heard of – and neither had Hermione – but the most important present for Lily came from Ginny, a crystal with two parts that symbolised their hearts and magical cores. Lily struggled to keep herself composed as she looked at everyone.

"I never understood what I did right to have so many amazing people in my life," Lily said. "All of you have been more than friends to me – you're practically family. I'm the luckiest girl alive, to have your friendship and your love," Lily said.

"Hear, hear," Fred said, grinning.

"To Lily Potter," George added, raising a glass of orange juice. Everyone did the same, repeating the toast, before breakfast began.

The day went perfectly, with Lily enjoying spending time in the air on her broom, playing Quidditch with Draco, Ron, and Ginny, two on two, whilst Hedwig flew around happily, watching them.

Hagrid was watching from below, acting as a referee, cheering them all on, whilst Fred and George let off a number of their fireworks as the sun began to set. Lily knew dinner was going to be spectacular, but before that, she knew she had to meet with everyone, to go over final plans for after the wedding.

Sitting in an armchair in the Weasley living room, Lily looked at her friends, and at the Order of the Dragon, all of whom were there for the birthday feast.

"Alright, so tomorrow is the wedding, and the day after, we need to begin our journey, wherever it takes us," Lily said. "Let's start with Mr. Crouch. How many safe houses have we got?"

"I've managed to set up thirty around the country, with each team having access to different ones. I've got lists here for the teams, so that way, if there's an attack at one, you'll be able to get out quickly, and not all be in danger," Crouch explained.

"That works," Hermione said. "I've been working on the supplies that we all need, and each of us should take one of these," Hermione began to hand out what looked like backpacks. "Each one has an undetectable extension charm, and in each one there's muggle money, guides to muggle shops, cookbooks, and spell books for cooking and preparing food, as well as a number of food and drink items with a stasis spell that is broken when you open the packs they're in."

"Bloody hell Hermione, how did you manage all that?" Ron asked, looking at his backpack, impressed.

"A lot of research, and working with Minister Scrimgeour," Hermione replied. "And, of course, with a lot of help from my brilliant girlfriend," she added, smiling at Fleur, who blushed at the compliment.

"That's some damned good work, Miss Granger," Scrimgeour complimented. He was there for the meeting, having been keeping up with the plans so he could help them all. "Soon as this is over, I want you working for the Ministry. You'll make a hell of a difference. Hell, you'll likely take my job one day."

Hermione turned a deep shade of red, unable to respond to the kind words, prompting a small round of laughter.

"Neville, you, Seamus, and Dean will be in charge of the Order at Hogwarts. There shouldn't be any problems, but keep an eye out there," Lily said.

"Don't worry Lily, we got this," Seamus promised.

"Without blowing stuff up, unless you have to," Lily added, smirking. Seamus chuckled.

"I don't blow up as much stuff anymore," he pointed out.

"Draco, you'll be searching Little Hangleton to begin with, where Voldemort's grandparents and mother lived, see if there's any clues, or anything that'll give us a direction to go," Lily said. "Hermione, Fleur, you'll be handling London, and the south of England. We know Slytherin's tomb is somewhere in the country, but merlin knows where."

"If it's out zair, we will find it," Fleur assured her.

"Ron, Lavender, search through some of the magical communities, but stay hidden as much as you can," Lily said. "Ginny and I will be starting off around where Riddle grew up, and tracking his movements after he left Hogwarts. We've missed something, I'm sure of it."

"I've been trying to get the goblins to give me access to the vaults in Gringotts, at least ones belonging to known Death Eaters, but they're not budging," Scrimgeour said. "I'll keep applying pressure, now I know what I'm looking for."

"Be careful," Lily said. "If any of them are working for Voldemort, he might suspect, and if there is one there, he'll try and move it."

Scrimgeour had confided in Lily after they had left Hogwarts that he knew what they were looking for; it was the only thing that explained how there was another Voldemort. Of course, she had shared their suspicions on what the Horcruxes were but finding them would take a lot of time.

"I'll be meeting with several people tomorrow, and working with my assistant, Pius. He's been working on tracking down and identifying Death Eaters," Scrimgeour said.

"Has he had any luck?" Ron asked.

"Some; we've identified several Death Eaters, and stopped one of their plans, but we failed when it came to finding Ollivander, though we know he's alive now," Scrimgeour replied.

"Why would he want Ollivander though? I take it there's a new wandmaker in Diagon Alley?" Lily asked.

"We managed to get several others there, but Ollivander is the best. His wands are perfect," Scrimgeour replied.

"Minister, can I ask you something?" Hermione asked.

"Of course," Scrimgeour agreed.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but why are you helping us so much? I know a lot of adults would see us as kids, and wouldn't trust any plans we made," Hermione replied. Scrimgeour laughed.

"Miss Granger, everyone here has done more for this world than most any adult wizard ever has. Miss Potter, in her second year, destroyed a Basilisk, with the help of yourself, Mr. Weasley, Professor Flitwick and…" Scrimgeour paused, then continued. "Last Christmas, all of you helped to defend the Christmas market from the Death Eaters. Yes, it was a diversion, but you still saved a lot of lives, and each of you fought the Death Eaters at Hogwarts in June. How can you think of yourself as children? You're heroes, all of you. You've lost your childhoods, but you've risen to the occasion and stopped Voldemort and his people, and you're still alive. That's worthy of everyone's respect in my book," Scrimgeour explained.

Lily could see how speechless everyone was; she was as well. To be seen so highly by the Minister of Magic, to be trusted so much… it gave her a warm feeling, knowing she wasn't alone. She had no idea how she'd have managed if she had been alone in the fight.

"Anyway, we're about due in the hall for your dinner, Lily," Scrimgeour said. "It's about time you relaxed and let yourself enjoy your evening. There's plenty to do tomorrow, so tonight, forget everything and just be a teenager."

"That sounds like the best idea we've heard in a while," Ginny smirked, as she stood up, taking Lily's hand. She didn't bother trying to fight it as they all left, heading for the hall.

The feast was more than Lily expected or felt she deserved. She saw that Kreacher was helping a lot. Ever since destroying the locket, Kreacher had been showing everyone, including Hermione, a great deal of respect. It was like he was a whole new house elf, and he was even bowing and ensuring Lily was comfortable.

Lily was reminded of the start of term feasts at Hogwarts; they were always special and full of her favourite foods, though this had gone above and beyond. There were her favourite tarts, pies, snacks, and even her favourite fajita's.

By the time the meal was finished, most people had gone to bed, leaving Lily and Draco alone, just talking.

"Not gonna lie, this was a hell of a dinner, Lily," Draco smiled. "You deserved this for your birthday."

"So was yours," Lily pointed out. For Draco's birthday, they had shared a meal in the room of requirement, and enjoyed a party that lasted all night, despite it being a Thursday, and the next day they had been tired, though they had managed to get through their classes.

"I'll be honest, that had been the best birthday I've had, despite it being the first… well…" Draco's voice trailed off, though Lily knew what she meant. It had been the first birthday since his parents had been killed by Bellatrix. Lily had made sure it had been a great event, though.

"I'm glad you're here, Draco. You being here, being friends with us, honestly, it's something I wish could have happened sooner," Lily said. "I think people always failed to see the kindness and good heart you have, even you struggled I suspect."

"You're not wrong," Draco chuckled. "It may have been a year since I started to change, but it feels like… it's always been the path I was meant to be on."

"I know how that feels. Different path, in terms of my gender, but when I came out, everything felt right," Lily explained. Draco nodded.

"There's a reason I wanted you to stay here and talk with me," Draco said. "I volunteered to be the one to talk to you about this."

"Is this an intervention or something?" Lily chuckled, but her smile faded as Draco didn't laugh. "Draco?"

"What I'm about to say isn't going to be easy to hear," Draco said, as he waved his wand, summoning a small box from the side of the room. Opening it, he pulled out the notebook that Snape had given her months earlier, as well as a flask similar to the one she had been given by Ginny.

"I destroyed that book," Lily admitted.

"I made a copy before you could," Draco replied calmly. "Because I know you well enough to know you would destroy this in a fit of rage, especially after what that traitor did."

"Draco…" Lily began, but he held up a hand to cut her off.

"Lily, when we first met, I told you I could help you with hanging around with the 'right sort' and you told me you could pick the right sort yourself, and damn it all, you were right. I had never been rejected by anyone before, but you had an amazing heart, immediately seeing how I was wrong. You knew, and you never held it over my head. Despite everything I did to you, you remained good and innocent. But you went through so much crap because of me, especially when you came out as transgender," Draco told her. "I've accepted that I'll never be able to fully make up for the distress I put you through, but even with that, you've accepted me as a friend, and as a part of your family. If anyone else had been here to tell you this, even Ginny, you might not have listened, but you're going to listen to me."

Lily looked at him, meeting his gaze, and nodded, allowing him to continue.

"When my parents were killed, you and Sirius were the first ones to offer me help, with Pansy immediately after. Crabbe and Goyle were the ones who I expected to help, but they abandoned me. Everyone did, and those who I thought were friends are now my enemies. I had thought you and I would always be enemies, but here we are. I accepted help from who I thought was my mortal enemy, and I've become better for it. This potion, it was made by Snape. He found the answer to your transition, and I know it kills you thinking of accepting it. I know you're wondering how you can take this potion, knowing that it came from the man who betrayed you, who caused your parent's to be killed, and who killed Professor Dumbledore, the man who was like a grandfather to you, and I get that, I really do," Draco said.

Lily could feel the emotion behind what Draco was saying, and it was true; he could understand. For years, the two of them had been enemies, but now they were family, and he wasn't asking her to forgive Snape, was he?

"You can never forgive Snape for what he did, and you shouldn't have to," Draco said. "I'm not asking you to forgive him, but what he made… St. Mungo's has run tests on it, Madam Pomfrey, Sirius, Remus, Professor Slughorn, even Minister Scrimgeour has run tests on it, and it's going to do exactly what he promised it would."

Lily looked at the flask, picking it up. "So, I start taking this, and in two years, my transition will be complete?" Lily asked. Draco nodded.

"It uses some… unusual and hard to get ingredients, but Minister Scrimgeour helped us make this flask, and the ingredients are safe with Professor Slughorn. Once a month, he'll brew a fresh batch, as it can only be made in small amounts, and he has all the ingredients he'll need. That will magically be used to refill your flask," Draco said. "I want you to have the life you deserve, Lily, so I want you to take this, now, and start your transition on the final road."

Lily sighed as she held the flask. A part of her wanted to throw it away and destroy it, but it was clear Draco could see that in her eyes.

"He's taken so much from you. Don't you dare let him take your future from you as well," Draco insisted firmly. "One dose a day."

Lily closed her eyes and opened the flask. The smell of cherries came from it, and she took a large gulp, the daily dose, and closed the flask. Opening her eyes, she saw Draco smiling, before he embraced her in a hug.

"I'm proud of you, Lily," he whispered in her ear, as Ginny came into the hall, seeing them. Without saying a word, Ginny hugged Draco, then kissed Lily.

"I didn't think I'd get you to do it without resorting to some kind of emotional blackmail," Ginny admitted. "And I didn't want you to hate me for that."

"I can never hate you," Lily told her.

"You could, but now, you just took the hardest part; not letting hate control your life," Ginny said.

"Like I said to you Ginny, I figured if anyone could convince her, it was me. I just had to tell her the truth of how I felt about things," Draco said.

"And you'll always have my gratitude for that, Draco," Ginny smiled, before hugging him again. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Draco replied, smiling as Lily joined in the hug. Lily knew Draco had been right in being the one to talk to her, and she felt better knowing that she wasn't going to be held back from her future. To Lily, that's what made them family; the future they were building together was one based on love, trust, and friendship, and that was more powerful than hate any day of the week.